POLICE SEEK MOTIVE BEHIND SHOOTING

Web of booby traps in suspect’s home occupies officers

As the hunt for clues into the motive behind the mass shooting at a Colorado movie theater continued Saturday, the Rancho Peñasquitos church where the suspected gunman’s family worships offered up prayer and support.

James Eagan Holmes, 24, remained in solitary confinement in a county jail on multiple first-degree murder charges, a day after police said he opened fire and set off gas canisters in the Aurora, Colo., theater minutes into the midnight premiere of the Batman film “The Dark Knight Rises.” The attack left 12 dead and 58 injured.

President Barack Obama planned to visit Aurora today for a memorial service for the dozen slain, law enforcement sources said.

Police in Aurora worked all day Saturday to disarm the intricate web of improvised explosives and booby traps left inside Holmes’ apartment that were rigged to kill or maim anyone who entered, authorities said.

The young man, who grew up in the northern San Diego neighborhood, and the violence he is accused of wreaking weighed heavy on the hearts of those at Peñasquitos Lutheran Church, where his family attends.

“We intercede on behalf of the shooter, a young man that we know,” a congregation member who wished to remain unnamed prayed aloud during a Saturday evening service. “We pray, Lord, for justice, but we also pray for your mercy upon him. When one part of your body suffers, we all suffer too, with it.”

Associate pastor Sean Kelly directed churchgoers to write their prayers for the Holmes family and other shooting victims on a swath of butcher paper in the church’s fellowship hall. He added that a prayer vigil may be held for the victims and their families.

Church members were among the supporters who came and went from the Holmes home Saturday as San Diego police and media from around the globe maintained a presence outside. Later, a police officer was seen carrying out a file box from the home.

Holmes’ father, Robert, a software engineer, left Friday for Denver. Holmes’ mother, Arlene, a registered nurse and case manager at Tri-City Medical Center in Oceanside, had stayed at home, along with his 19-year-old sister, Chris, a musician.

The family has asked for privacy.

Holmes, an honors student who graduated from Torrey Highlands’ Westview High School in 2006, was pursuing a Ph.D. in neuroscience at the University of Colorado before dropping out last month. He was attending the program on a federal grant, officials said Saturday.

Those who know him from the neighborhood he grew up in and from school described him as extremely intelligent and somewhat of a loner. A bit odd, but not dangerous. He went out to eat with friends, saw movies and went on snowboarding trips.

Authorities wouldn’t discuss a motive for one of the deadliest mass shootings in recent U.S. history.

Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said that whatever investigators find in the apartment that may point to motive will be presented in a court of law, and not to the public beforehand, to preserve the integrity of the case.

Holmes apparently had prepared the attack at the theater well in advance, receiving multiple deliveries by mail for four months to his home and school and buying thousands of rounds of ammunition on the Internet, Oates said.

“What we’re seeing here is evidence of some calculation and deliberation,” Oates added.

Oates said Holmes used a military-style semi-automatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol to open fire on the unsuspecting theatergoers. He had bought the weapons at local gun stores within the past two months.

Holmes also bought an urban assault vest, two magazine holders and a knife for just over $300 on July 2 from an online supplier of tactical gear for police and military personnel, according to the company.

At his apartment, where music had been left blaring, federal authorities detonated one small explosive and disarmed others after sending in a robot to take down a trip wire, FBI Special Agent James Yacone said. Bomb technicians then neutralized what he called a “hyperbolic mixture” and an improvised explosive device containing an unknown substance. There also were multiple containers of accelerants, he said.

The police chief said the apartment was booby trapped to kill “whoever entered it,” noting it likely would have been one of his officers.

“You think we’re angry? We sure as hell are angry,” Oates said.

Part of the investigation is focusing on Holmes’ possible use of social media.

Holmes did not appear to have much of a footprint on the Internet, although investigators are reportedly looking into the validity of a recent online profile posted on
AdultFriendFinder.com that appears to depict a red-haired Holmes. The profile, under the username “classicjimbo,” seeks a casual sexual partner and matches Holmes’ town and date of birth. The last post asks: “Will you visit me in prison?”

According to the New York police commissioner, who said he had been briefed on the case, Holmes had dyed his hair red and compared himself to the Joker character in the Batman movies.

Holmes was set for an initial hearing on Monday and had been appointed a public defender, authorities said.

Makeshift memorials for the victims sprang up and relatives began to publicly mourn their loved ones.

Many who stood around a memorial near the theater said they had come because it could have been them, or their brothers or sisters or aunts or mothers, lying bloodied on the ground. They struggled for words — “shocking,” “horrible,” “unthinkable” — that were ultimately inadequate, their voices faltering with the weight of the events.

Stories of the dead began to emerge, including that of a 6-year-old girl and a man who died on his 27th birthday and a day before his anniversary. Families grieved and waited at hospitals, which reported at least seven wounded still in critical condition Saturday and others with injuries that likely are permanent.

Staff writers Kristina Davis, Katherine Poythress and Aaron Burgin contributed to this report. The Associated Press and The Washington Post also contributed.